Washington County city mayors, councilors and staff along with local legislators shared accomplishments, concerns and goals at a joint legislative training session Thursday evening in Forest Grove.

Forest Grove Mayor Peter Truax guided “a very crowded agenda” that included discussion of regional transportation issues, some state-level legislative highlights and local updates from city leaders.

Transportation

Don Odermott, Hillsboro transportation planning engineer, said regional growth will continue to have an impact on “mobility corridors” such as the Tualatin Valley Highway, particularly between Forest Grove, Hillsboro and Beaverton.

Daily traffic flow is a rising issue as the area expands, he said. Some north-south routes, such as Cornelius Pass Road, could see demand triple and quadruple in the coming decade.

“People are excited by the growth but asking about the challenge of how do we move this traffic,” Odermott said.

Hillsboro will be pursuing the topic of regional transportation at the state level with the legislature this spring, he said.

Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, said with the legislature’s heavy focus on the Columbia River Crossing project - which will construct an Interstate 5 bridge between Oregon and Washington – it may be hard to move forward with other major transportation concerns. However, legislators are willing to listen, she said.

“I just want to make this clear,” Odermott said. “This project is in no way a challenge to the CRC. In fact, it absolutely relies on the CRC.”

However, the millions of dollars needed for further planning to address transportation and congestion concerns west of Portland will likely become an obstacle, and once funded, a study would take at least a year and a half, he said.

“There’s a lot of work to be done,” Odermott said.

Truax said transportation is a key issue for all of Washington County’s cities, but on a tight evening agenda, not every question could be addressed. He hopes to work further with local and regional leaders to pursue the topic.

“Thank you to the city of Hillsboro for that effort and we look forward to more of it,” he said. “That is the kind of cooperation we have in Washington County.”

Legislative preview

Johnson offered the group a “high level romp” through issues at the state level. She said the hot topics on an aggressive agenda in the Oregon Legislature will be healthcare, education and public safety along with tax structure discussion.

“That will be a lively debate in an already crowded legislature with a lot of new faces,” she said.

Balancing the budget will also present state government with a series of hurdles, she said. The Oregon Legislature will convene the second week of January and begin work in earnest on Feb. 4, Johnson said.

Representative-elect Ben Unger, a District 29 democrat, said the constituents he has spoken with in Cornelius, Forest Grove and Hillsboro are particularly interested in education and job creation, and that will be his focus. He said he anticipates working with city leaders to learn the ropes for his first legislative term.

“I have a lot of homework to do and you will all be my study group,” he said.

City updates

The city mayors also took the opportunity to compare notes.

For Forest Grove, Truax highlighted ongoing work in the Fernhill Wetlands, saying he hopes to continue efforts with the city, county and state to make it a “textbook place for tourism, research and environmental control.”

Banks Mayor John Kinsky and North Plains Mayor David Hatcher kept their comments short, saying there was not much to report.

Cornelius Mayor Jef Dalin said he is concerned with creating and maintaining equitability on issues like urban growth, but is proud to see some areas of expansion in his own city, such as record growth in library services. He asked that, at the state level, legislators not make deals that trade away local power.

Hillsboro will continue to focus on transportation issues and seek regional support in those endeavors, city representatives said.

Truax said that while Forest Grove is also looking at transportation and infrastructure in the long run, much of the city’s current discussion is focused on overall environmental, economic and social sustainability. He encouraged other city leaders to pursue sustainability and social justice, as well.

“The various things we do – transportation corridors, jobs and economic development, taxation issues – they may not seem sexy,” he said. “But they’re all designed to make sure we make this area a better place to live and work.”